Grand Rapids, Mich. – The (RV) AQ men's volleyball squad returned to the Sturrus Center tonight (Feb. 17) to take on Bethel University in a WHAC matchup. In an absolutely crazy two-and-a-half-hour match, the Saints came out on top to win the match 3-2. Aquinas won the back-and-forth battle by set scores of 17-25, 25-19, 27-29, 26-26, and 15-12.

After setting the single-match hitting percentage record on Wednesday (Feb. 15), Julian Armendano tied the single-match kill record tonight with 25 kills. That 25-kill mark was previously set by Armendano himself on two separate occasions last year.

Aquinas improves to 7-4 on the season with a 6-2 WHAC record. Bethel falls to 3-6 with a 2-5 conference record.

Bethel took control of the first set early, taking nine of the first 14 points of the set. Both sides began trading points with the Pilots holding a comfortable advantage midway through the set. However, the home side slowly began to chew away at the deficit and an ace from Colin Ilagan brought AQ within one point with the score at 17-16.

The Pilots immediately responded with a 5-0 run to retake a comfortable lead. AQ scored a point but the visiting side quickly ended the first set with a 25-17 first-set victory.

Set number two started better for Aquinas after a block from Carter Sabo and Chase Gil helped get the Saints out in front early with a 4-1 lead. The visiting side narrowed the deficit quickly, but a 4-0 run featuring a pair of kills from Armendano, an ace from Daniel Austin, and a solo block from Alexander Rodriguez had the Saints ahead with a 10-5 advantage.

Aquinas maintained a steady lead thanks to a tremendous effort from Armendano. He put down kill after kill to keep the Saints in the lead. Armendano recorded his 10th kill of the set to give AQ a 20-14 advantage. Joshua Boothroyd recorded three kills to get Aquinas to its 24th point and Armendano finished the set with his 11th kill of the set. AQ won the second set by a score of 25-19.

The battle continued on into the third set with the two teams trading points. Aquinas held a slim advantage with the score at 9-8 after 17 points had been played. The Pilots began to gain some momentum on the next point, starting a 5-1 run to take a three-point lead.

AQ scored the next point, but the Pilots regained their momentum with 4-0 run to capture a 17-11 upper hand. BU appeared to have the third set under control with a commanding 22-16 advantage a few points later, but Aquinas began to rally. AQ took the next five points after two kills from Sabo, a kill from Armendano, an ace from Boothroyd, and a block from Sabo and Gil nearly tied the score.

A few points later, another kill from Armendano tied the set at 23 with the suspense building in the Sturrus Center. The two teams traded the next four points to tie the match at 25, giving the hometown fans bonus volleyball. On the following point, Rodriguez scored a massive solo block to give Aquinas a set-point opportunity. However, Bethel scored the next two points to obtain its own set-point chance. A kill from Boothroyd tied the set at 27, but the visiting team followed that kill with two points to take a 29-27 third-set victory.

The fourth set was just as crazy and played out similarly to the third set. An early 8-1 run from Bethel gave the visiting side an 11-7 advantage 18 points into the set. Head coach, Michael Crane, used his first timeout of the set to get Aquinas regrouped and the timeout worked perfectly. The Saints took the next five points to retake the lead. A couple of errors from Bethel along with a combined three kills between Armendano and Boothroyd accounted for the five points.

However, BU responded back to retake control of the lead late in the set. With the score at 21-18, an error from the Pilots and a kill from Joseph Koss reduced the deficit to just one point for the Saints. Bethel responded with a pair of points of its own to take a commanding 23-20 advantage late in the fourth set.

An error from Bethel gave Aquinas a much-needed point, but BU answered with the next point to make the score 24-21 and set up Bethel with a match-point opportunity. With the match on the line, Aquinas pulled off an incredible rally to not only tie the match but take a 25-24 advantage. Both sides traded the next three points to tie at 26. However, a Gil kill and an error from Bethel gave Aquinas an incredible 28-26 fourth-set with to force a fifth and final set.

The Saints entered the fifth set hot, taking the first three points of the set. As what has been the theme of the match, Bethel quickly responded and, after a 4-0 run, the Pilots held a 9-6 advantage and forced Crane to use his first timeout of the set.

Boothroyd proceeded to take over the set, smashing three kills into the floor to get Aquinas back into the match and retake the lead with the score at 11-10. BU tied the set on the following point, but a service error on the next point gave Aquinas service control back. The next point had a bit of a rally, but Sabo would eventually secure the point with a ridiculous one-handed block. An ace from Boothroyd on the subsequent point gave AQ a massive 14-11 advantage.

Bethel scored the ensuing point, but Armendano countered that point with his 25th kill of the match to give Aquinas a 15-12 victory in the fourth set.

Aquinas held a slim advantage in most categories, leading in hitting percentage (.204-.197), aces (9-6), blocks (10-9), and assists (56-55). Bethel had 50 digs to AQ's 41 and both sides had 57 kills over the course of the match.

Armendano ended the match with a record-tying 25 kills on 60 attempts with a .300 hitting percentage. He also had eight kills in the winning effort. Armendano is now at 975 career kills, just 25 shy of hitting the 1,000-kill milestone.

Boothroyd had a season-high 19 kills (.204) tonight to pair with his one assist, three aces, one block assist, and six digs. His 19 kills place him at 998 career kills. With just two kills tomorrow (Feb. 18), Boothroyd would become the first player in Aquinas men's volleyball history to reach the 1,000-kill milestone.

Gil had a good match with seven kills (.333), three aces, a dig, and a team-high seven block assists.

The Saints are back in action tomorrow afternoon (Feb. 18) for another home match. AQ is set to take on Goshen at 3:00 PM inside the Sturrus Center.